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Bytes and Boxes Posts

YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE PAST THIS ALL YOUR LIFE: Photographs of Public Art In The Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

Among the hundreds of digitized records we have available that represent documents, maps, and photographs from our collection, I’ve recently discovered a bounty of photographs…

Re-presenting “Responding to AIDS: The Seattle-King County Department of Public Health 1982-1996”

In 2016, the King County Archives produced an oral history project and online exhibit documenting Seattle-King County Department of Public Health’s response to the HIV/AIDS…

Women in Government through the King County Archives

A little background: The King County Commissioners was the legislative body of the county government prior to the establishment of the King County Home Charter and the swearing in of the first King County Council in 1969. The Commissioners were three elected officials who functioned much like the County Council does today. Their records can be found at the King County Archives and accessed on microfilm in the self-service microfilm area.

In 1931 and 1933, the King County Commissioners introduced resolutions for King County to no longer employ women. Instead, they would fill open positions with married men, or women when they were heads of families. These resolutions were introduced to stem the economic hardships of the Great Depression’s mass unemployment. The second of these resolutions calls for King County staff to investigate whether they are employing any married women and replace them if their husbands are “able to support them.” That is to say, to fire married women for being married women.

50 Years of Home Rule Governance: The Archives Celebrates the King County Charter and the First Council

Fifty years ago today, the first King County Council and County Executive were sworn in under the Home Rule Charter. The current Council is celebrating…

Scenes from the late 1980s: Looking back at the construction of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel

On March 23, the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel (DSTT) will convert to Link light rail trains only, and bus service will be moved to surface…

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